I. If the applicant for a fishing, hunting, or bow and arrow license is a resident of the state, has received a discharge other than dishonorable from service in the armed forces of the United States as defined in RSA 21:50, II and is totally and permanently disabled from such service-connected disability, the executive director shall issue a special veteran's license to said applicant. Said license shall be perpetual. The executive director shall retain the records for such licenses for a period not less than 7 years. Loss or destruction of the license after 7 years shall obligate the licensee to re-establish eligibility. A $10 administrative fee shall be charged once, upon application to the executive director for such license.

II.(a) If the applicant for a fishing [and], hunting, or bow and arrow license is a resident of the state, has received a discharge other than dishonorable from service in the armed forces of the United States as defined in RSA 21:50, II and is at least 80 percent but not 100 percent [permanently] disabled from such service-connected disability for not more than 2 years, the executive director [shall] may issue a lifetime license to such applicant at 50 percent of the cost of a lifetime license under RSA 214:9-c calculated pursuant to RSA 214:9-c, II. The executive director shall comply with the requirements of 38 C.F.R. section 3.327 to determine if the applicant's disability qualifies the applicant to receive the license discount.

(b) If the applicant for a fishing, hunting, or bow and arrow license is a resident of the state, has received a discharge other than dishonorable from service in the armed forces of the United States as defined in RSA 21:50, II and is at least 80 percent but not 100 percent disabled from such service-connected disability for more than 2 years, the executive director shall issue a lifetime license to such applicant at 50 percent of the cost of a lifetime license under RSA 214:9-c calculated pursuant to RSA 214:9-c, II.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

This bill authorizes the Fish and Game Department to issue a 50 percent discount for the bow and arrow lifetime license fee for a veteran with a service-connected disability for not more than 2 years and requires the issuance of the 50 percent discount for veterans with a service-connected disability for more than 2 years. The Department reports it is not possible to estimate how this bill will impact revenue due to not knowing the following: 1) the exact size of the eligible population; and 2) the age of qualifying individuals, since the license cost would be determined based on the age of the applicant. The Department reports this bill may increase revenue, if more eligible veterans seek to purchase a license due to the discount provided in this bill.

The Department estimates the possible increase to state expenditures include: increase cost for materials provided due to additional demand in hunter safety classes and modifications to the online licensing system which are estimated to cost $1,525.